PHOENIX, AZ (November 6, 2023) – Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona heard a lawsuit from civic engagement organizations Poder Latinx, Chicanos Por La Causa and Chicanos Por La Causa Action Fund challenging Arizona laws that empower election officials to unlawfully disenfranchise eligible voters, particularly naturalized citizens. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by Fair Elections Center, the law firm of Arnold & Porter, and the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest argues that these new citizenship investigation procedures for voter registration violate federal law, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the National Voter Registration Act and the 14th and 15th Amendments.
HB 2492 and HB 2243, which were passed in 2022, instruct county recorders to use outdated and unreliable government databases to investigate the citizenship status of voter registration applicants and registered voters. The challenged laws require election officials to reject registration forms or cancel registrations based on this inaccurate “information” regarding citizenship and conduct extra citizenship checks based on any “reason to believe” a voter is not a U.S. citizen. Effectively creating a presumption against naturalized voters’ eligibility to vote, these vague directives will make it harder for naturalized Arizonans to register and stay registered to vote.
“Arizona’s new election laws are discriminatory and invite explicit bias into our election processes. Poder Latinx stands with our community here in Arizona to reject any action that will discourage everyday Americans from participating in elections,” said Nancy Herrera, Arizona State Program Director of Poder Latinx.
“Voter-suppression laws never have the term ‘voter suppression’ in their title, but if that is either the intention or the impact of a law or bill targeting our community, we will challenge it on our community’s behalf,” said Joseph Garcia, Executive Director of Sí Se Vota CPLC Action Fund and Vice President of Public Policy at Chicanos Por La Causa.
“The laws on trial this week are a recipe for arbitrary and discriminatory treatment reminiscent of the worst Jim Crow registration barriers,” said Jon Sherman, Litigation Director at Fair Elections Center. “Arizona law allows election officials to rely on hearsay, personal biases and unreliable databases in evaluating registered voters’ eligibility, and this will deter and disenfranchise lawfully registered voters.”
”There is no right more important in our democracy than the right to vote,” said Danny Adelman, Executive Director at the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest. “These laws infringe on that right and must be struck down. We are proud to help in this effort.”
“We will prove that Arizona’s new laws are constitutionally defective and invite harassment of new citizens registering to vote,” said John A. Freedman, Arnold & Porter’s Senior Pro Bono Counsel. “We are proud to stand with our clients and co-counsel in this important challenge.”
